National Treasure: The Wrong Declaration
by allstoriesintheend
Summary: There's a lot that could have changed if Ben had picked up the real Declaration when Abigail approached him on that mad night of the Gala. AU - Co written with President Laura Roslin
1. DRIVE

**Written in a random RP on messenger with President Laura Roslin. It came out too awesome for us not to post it.  
**

**All material belongs to Disney! We do not own National Treasure!**

Alarms blared somewhere behind her, but her sights were set on the man stalking across the street. The cool night breeze tickled her cheeks as she glanced both ways before crossing the street, hardly tearing her gaze away from the man's retreating back. "Hey!" She called out, half expecting him to stop. She darted forward, grabbing the back door of the shiny red van he seemed to be putting something into. "You did not. You did not steal the Declaration!"

By the time Riley had warned him of the approaching mad -but attractive- woman, it was too late, and he had to think on his feet. He scrambled around for the spare copy of the Declaration, but she had wrenched the door fully open, revealing his hiding place. Still clutching the real document, he faced her, mouth slightly agape, and hoping she wouldn't try and snatch it from him.

"Uh...It's not, what it looks like."

Abigail snatched it from him instantly, clutching at it gently, afraid she might damage it more than this man had probably done. "How dare you! Security! Security! Over here!" She screamed, but stayed rooted to the spot - sirens sounded in the distance. "I don't know who you think you are, but you have no right to steal the Declaration! I hope you understand how long you're going to be in jail,

Mr. Brown. Security!"

"Wait no-!" He couldn't believe he'd just let her take it like that! He stumbled towards her, hands grabbing, taking hold of the tube as it stayed in her hands."Listen to me, you don't understand," he glanced up, noticing a large truck pulling up near to them in a hurry. Ian, no doubt. "Please just come with me and I'll explain everything yeah?"

Abigail let out a harsh, undignified laugh. "As if I'd ever come with you! You stole the Declaration of Independence! I'm not going with you anywhere, not even if you dragged me!" She shouted, her voice growing louder. "Security!"

Ben looked over her shoulder, watching with growing disdain as the back and side doors of the van flung open, and the security of the national archives no doubt got closer...

His eyes rested on Abigail, her wild eyes and even wilder hair. She'd be safer with him, the Declaration would be safer with him...What he was about to do would make her angry, though hopefully not in the long run.

He lurched forward, taking her around the waist and lifting her into the air, draping her over his shoulder and diving into the back of the van. He lay her down on the floor and slammed the doors behind him.

"Riley! DRIVE!"

Abigail had moved to back away, but he suddenly grabbed her. She screamed, pounding her fists against his back. She touched metal and something slammed - she was being kidnapped! The Declaration still clutched within her hands, she was flung against the side of the van as the driver - Riley - took off. "You let me go this instant! I'll . . . I'll call the police! This is kidnapping!"

Ben was regaining his composure when the shouting began. Well, he had expected that.

"This is probably the better option." He said smoothly, moving past her to peer at Riley over the seats. "How're we doing, Riley?"

"We're being chased." Riley responded, deadpan, surprisingly calm. Ben wondered how long that would last.

"What is going on!?" Abigail winced at the gunfire striking the side of the van. What had she been pulled into? God the things she did for her job. Never letting go of the document, she stumbled to her feet, leaning forward beside Ben. "This is ridiculous! Let me go! Whoever is shooting at us is probably the police coming after you!"

Ben almost laughed.

"It's not the police." He only wished it were the police. They would've been a welcome break from Ian. "And I can't let you go. Not now, and especially not when you're holding the Declaration like that." He gave her a withering look. "Are you ready to give it to me, yet?"

"The only way you're getting this document is if you pry it out of my cold, dead fingers." She muttered darkly, glancing behind her almost as if she could see who was shooting at them. "Then who is shooting at us? I don't want to be caught up in this mess! This document needs to be returned to the Archives - there's no treasure map on the back of it, Mr. Brown, and you're utterly silly to think so!"

"You got yourself into this when you ran across the street screaming at me like a mad woman!" Ben snapped. "And the person, or persons, shooting at us are the allies of a Mr Ian Howe, the man my associate and I warned you were going to steal the Declaration." He gave her an agitated look. "And I beg to differ, Doctor Chase. And I plan on proving it to you."

Abigail clutched the Declaration possessively. "You stole the most important document in American History! I wasn't about to let you get away with it, not even if you were Benjamin Franklin himself!" She said, her voice inching higher in her anger. "And there's no way you're proving it because I'm not letting you touch this."

Ben gave her a small smile. "Funny thing about the name, Benjamin Franklin." He sat down, leaning against the side of the van, shaking his head. "You have to give me some credit here, Abigail, I did essentially just save you and the Declaration from a van of mad men, the least you could do is be quiet for one moment so I can attempt to explain."

Abigail sat down across from him, the Declaration across her lap. "Nothing's funny about it." She said flatly, reaching up to tug her hair loose from its bun, shaking the blonde curls loose. "Well, as much as I'd like to thank you, I'm not going to, considering the federal crime you just commited. And you have three minutes. Talk fast."

Thankful she has actually shutup for a moment, Ben began, albeit a little unsteadily, as he hadn't expected her to quieten down so easily.

"My friend and I stole the Declaration to stop Ian, who had no plans of treating it lightly once he got his hands on it. We believed, that if we did so ourselves, not only could we take it carefully, but we would test it just as carefully, and return it the following day. This, this has just gone all wrong. You were never supposed to be involved, but Ian would have dragged you into this."

He took a breath, ready to go into so much more depth, but the van suddenly lurched sideways, as something large collided with it. Riley let out a yell and Ben scrambled upright, holding the back of Riley's seat for support. He knew it was Ian.

"Are you okay!?" He called to Riley, who was desperately trying to regain control of the steering and failing.

"No Ben, no I am NOT okay! We're out of control here!"

The van skidded and swerved, hitting a bollard in the centre of the road and finally escaping the road, smashing head on into a tree.

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	2. Major Whiplash

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Abigail listened with interest. So she would have been dragged into it either way. Great. "That -." She didn't have time to finish her sentence as something suddenly hit the van and she slammed into the side, her head nailing the metal. She winced, rubbing the now forming knot as they skidded more. Clutching the document to her chest, she grabbed onto the back of the passenger's seat to steady

herself, but the next thing she knew they'd hit something head on. She shot forward, flying over the top of the seat. She couldn't scream, her voice gone as she shot through the front windshield, glass scraping at every bare part of her body. She still somehow managed to clutch the document as she landed on the hood of the van. Everything hurt, and her vision was blurry, but she was still conscious, albeit, not able to think clearly. She tried to think, and pushed herself into a sitting position on the hood, one hand on the tree they had run into to balance herself. She swayed, her grip on the document loosening. "Mr. Brown?" She croaked out. "Riley?" Something caught her attention to the left, and she noticed it was a man with a gun, pointed right at her. Shrieking, she slid off the hood and onto the other side of the car to protect herself from the gunfire.

Ben had smacked into the head rest as the car collided with the tree, and was dazed, but luckily unhurt. He couldn't see Abigail for a start, which was definately not good. He staggered upright, clinging onto the chair and peered over at Riley, who was barely conscious, leaning against the air bag which had protruded from the wheel in the collision. Ben squeezed through the gap in the seats and pushed his friend upright, slapping his face lightly.

"Riley. Riley are you alright?"

Riley groaned, moving slightly.

"Major whiplash..."

Ben smiled, wider than he had anticipated.

"We didn't hit the tree too hard, we just kind of...span into it." He looked up at the windscreen and frowned deeply at the hole in it and the flecks of blood on the jagged frame. Abigail must have gone through it.

He stood abruptly, ready to dive out and help when a gunshot sounded, and he instinctively ducked. Ian really wasn't going to stop until he killed them, was he?

Turning around and bravely moving to the back doors, Ben pushed them open carefully, poked his head out and looked left and right. The backs of Ian's cronies were facing him, giving him time to creep out and around the other side of the van.

There, crouching just by the bonnet, bloodied and battered, was Abigail. It was an awful sight, her once beautiful dress in tatters and her porcelain skin dirtied and cut. He crouched and went towards her, holding a hand out.

"Abigail, come with me."

Abigail looked up at Ben. Since when were there three of him? She blinked and grabbed his hand, stumbling slightly as she got to her feet. Another gunshot whizzed by their heads as she glanced back at Riley. "What about Riley?" She asked carefully, leaning against Ben. She could feel the blood running along her arms and legs and face from the cuts, her head throbbing in pain. "Okay, so, we need away from the guys with guns." She said after a moment, swaying slightly. She managed to kick off her shoes. They were going to have to run - although, she wasn't sure she'd be able to manage a straight line. She'd just smashed through the front windshield of a car and gone airbourne. She was running on pure adrenaline right then, but eventually it was going to wear off.

"Riley's following." Ben only hoped he was. He took Abigail by the waist and let her lean on him as they dashed behind the van, ducking their heads. He needed to get Abigail to a hospital. He looked her over, startled by her injuries, but even more surprised that she still stubbornly held the Declaration. He was beginning to like her.

They got to the back doors and Riley peeked out.

"What's the plan? Please say you have a plan?"

"We run. That's the plan."

"T-that's not a good plan." Abigail managed to get out, huffing slightly as Ben tugged her behind the van. They had to get somewhere out of the line of fire though, that was for sure. Another shot rang out and she winced. "I think they're getting closer." To think she'd been enjoying herself at a nice party twenty minutes ago, and now she was being shot at. Ridiculous. "And I'm not entirely sure

I can run a straight line. Or properly run at all, for that matter." Her leg was screaming in pain - rather, her entire body was.

Ben gave her a sharp look when she said it wasn't a good plan. His plans were always good! Well, mostly.

He gave her the once over when she said she couldn't run, and he knew she was right. She was injured badly. He thought for a moment, and then scooped her up, expecting her to thrash about in his arms.

"Let's go, I know a place."

She felt like some sort of ragdoll, being tugged and carried and pulled everywhere. She didn't argue as Ben carried her though, knowing she wouldn't be able to run - she didn't feel like being shot at. Instead, she just clutched the Declaration like a lifeline, her other arm hooking around Ben's neck. "This place better be safe, Mr. Brown, because I don't fancy getting shot. I'm busted up enough,

it seems."

Ben ignored her, slightly irritated by her constant nagging. He wondered if she was like this all the time, or just in certain situations.

"Stop calling me Brown." He said, almost sharply, the pressure getting to him. "I'm Gates, alright? Ben Gates." He cut across the grass by the road, Riley scurrying along by him.

"Ben, where're we going exactly?"__

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	3. Verdammt!

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Abigail let out a forced laugh. "Gates. Should have known - the family with the crazy conspiracy theory about that treasure. That's what this is about. I'm getting shot at over a treasure! Verdammt!" She shook her head. Ben Gates. If she wasn't so angry right then, he would have been cute. But she forced her mind off that particular thought and onto the next. "Yeah - where are we going?"

"It is NOT a conspiracy theory!" Ben kept his eyes forward, forcing them away from Abigail's blue. All of the force would be taken from his tone if he looked at her for longer than a few moments, and he no doubt would.

At her question, and Riley's, he smiled somewhat wryly.

"We're going to your place, Riley." Riley squeaked.

"MY place? Why MY place? I don't want the feds all over my apartment!"

"Well we can't go to my place, the 'feds' will be there already, and like I'd tell my dad about the Declaration? He'd be bound to ask questions, considering the state of Abigail..."

"Oh, just tell him you picked me up on the side of the road or something." She said sarcastically. "And I hate to point out things, but wouldn't these men know where your friend lives if they're shooting at you? Hardly seems they'd not have background information on you a bit." She said carefully, looking up at Ben for a moment. "And sorry if I offended you with the conspiracy theory business."

Ben paused, sighing. She was right of course.

"Then what do you propose we do? My dad won't leave us alone, we can't go there." Things were falling apart very fast.

And then she apologised, and suddenly he had an idea.

"Where do you live?"

Abigail should have smacked herself - should have seen that one coming. She really didn't want the feds at her house either. "About two blocks down that way - I have an apartment one street over from the museum. Although, I have to warn you, we can't stay long. They'll notice I'm gone - likely the police have the place on lockdown now. Then they'll want to question me, as Head of Document

Preservation and find out how it was stolen and such, so they'll try to find me sometime tomorrow morning. But at least it'll give us a place to lie low for a bit." Abigail replied quietly, glancing over Ben's shoulder behind them.

Ben was slightly confused by her readiness to co-operate.

"Why are you suddenly so keen to help us?"

He swapped a sceptical look with Riley who returned it.

Abigail scowled. "I'm not sure if it's the head trama, or if it's the fact I don't want to be shot at - and I'm not letting you anywhere with this Declaration unless I'm with it too." She declared, folding her arms across her chest and wincing at the action as several of the cuts were rubbed - she could literally feel the small glass shards digging in deeper. "I'm not losing my job because I let some treasure hunters off with the Declaration. And you sound like you want to run tests on it - I'll do them myself SAFELY since I'm trained to, and prove to you that there is nothing on the back of the Declaration of Independence, Mr. Gates."

"Well," taken aback by her outburst, Ben quickened his pace, avoiding her steely gaze, "alright then."

It was another ten minutes before they reached the apartment. Luckily Abigail was extremely light and Riley was brisk, faster than usual for fear of being killed. Ben placed Abigail carefully on the floor, keeping a tight grip on her waist, just in case she tried to make off with the Declaration or something. Not that she could get far...

The entire way there, Abigail thought of her chances of running - they were slim, since she couldn't run and there were men with guns after them. When they reached her apartment, she realized she didn't have her key. Balancing against the doorframe and putting as less weight as she could on herself, she reached up and grabbed a bobby pin from her hair, shoving it in the lock. After a moment of working, it clicked and she shoved the door open. "I would have cleaned up a bit if I would have known I'd have company." She mutter sarcastically, grabbing anything to keep her balance as she limped inside. The apartment was spotless, and decorated in colonial themes mixed with modern, with wide windows facing the street, curtains pulled over them. "Help yourself to whatever. I'm going to change,

and then we'll work on proving to you that there is nothing on the back of this." She held up the Declaration.

Ben watched with a mix of extreme attraction and extreme amazement as Abigail prised open the door, and was even more startled by her apartment. It was amazing, a stark contrast to his own messy apartment, and yet the way it was, the little touches of passion here and there...

Ben shook his head, watching with disdain as she vanished with the Declaration. Riley sidled up to him.

"Bet you didn't expect to be in her apartment so soon." He grinned, moving away before Ben could give him a death glare.

Abigail quickly and carefully changed out of her gala dress, pulling on a pair of knee-capris and a dark shirt. She grabbed a wet washcloth, limping back into the room as she began to clean her cuts. The glass would have to stay in them for now - it'd come out eventually. She glanced at Ben and Riley, before gently laying the Declaration on the coffee table, finishing cleaning up the cuts on her arms. "All right, boys. Run this by me again - what do you think is on the back of this?"

Ben was almost too scared to sit down. He didn't want to feel Abigail's wrath if he dirtied her sofa.

"It's a map. A map to lead us to the treasure." Ben said smoothly, making a grab for the Declaration. "Let me-"

Abigail snatched it up before he could grab it, shaking her head. "If you're so determined, then I'll show you. But I'm trained to handle these documents, so I'm going to be doing it." She stated, then looked at Riley. "Go into my kitchen and grab a knife and several lemons from the bowl on the counter, then go into the bathroom and grab my hairdryer and some q-tips." She said, and began to slide the plastic covering off the document. She cleared her coffee table and knelt down, carefully unrolling the document and turning it over so that the back was facing up. It was so soft in her hands, she was afraid it might rip or tear at any moment. "I'm getting fired for this." She almost groaned, letting out the breath she'd been holding. "I'm so getting fired for this."

Riley hurried away and Ben listened to the sound of him rummaging around. There was the clang of a pot and a yelp, before he re emerged with the correct things.

Ben watched with a deep frown as Abigail set about her business. It was amazing, the force she had taken, the passion she had for the Declaration. Ben had never met anybody like that before.

"If there was a map on the back, it'd be marked with an emblem on the right hand corner..." He murmured, although he was sure she would already know that.

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	4. Not with Ian cavorting around!

"I know." She said quietly, not looking up as she stared at the back of the document. She'd never been able to touch it before, and it had suddenly hit her what they were about to do. This was so dangerous - if they ruined a part of history, they'd be thrown in jail. Well, Ben and Riley were probably already going there, and she'd be napped for being an accomplice. Sighing, Abigail gingerly pinned her hair into a loose ponytail to keep it out of her face as she worked. Using her letter opening, she sliced one of the lemons open and grabbed a q-tip, gently running it across the citrus. Holding her breath, she ran it over the corner, leaning back. "Blow on the corner. You have to have a reactant - heat."

"I know." Ben responded almost as sharply as she had, leaning down slowly, giving her a look, and breathing on the area.

There was a flash of something, a small drawing, exactly where he had hoped it would be. He couldn't hide his ecstatic smile.

"Excellent." He said softly, moving his grin onto Riley.

"I was the first in my family - when I was 18 I was so obsessed with history I legally changed my middle name to Adams." She replied, glancing as he brought out the pen and paper. She watched as the heat brought out numbers - codes, three in a row. She frowned. "I have no idea what these mean . . . . but at least it's not a map."

Ben was really starting to like this woman. Then again, he was attracted to anything that shared his number one passion.

"It's an ottendorf cipher." Ben said simply, regarding the codes and scribbling them down quickly.

"What's an ottendorf cipher?" Riley asked, staring at them.

"Codes." Ben said, writing distractedly.

Abigail glanced at Riley. "It's a bit difficult to explain - but the first number usually refers to a page or something of a text, and then what line on the page, and which letter in that line." She pointed to each of the numbers in turn. "Problem is, we have no clue what text." She rubbed her temple. Oddly, she was starting to get into this. All this time, and no one had any idea this was on the back. Not even her, and she was in charge of it. Abigail had the strangest feeling she was about to be dragged along for a ride that was probably going to get her killed, but it had intrigued her now, and she didn't want to back out. Using the coffee table for support, she pushed herself up to sit on the couch. "What now?"

Ben watched her idly, his hand on the paper. The look of realisation that dawned on her face was enough to keep him happy for a long while. The look of understanding, the understanding that maybe, just maybe, the Gates family weren't as crazy as everyone said.

And then she asked 'what now' and he knew he wasn't going to tell her. Part of him wanted her along for the ride, the other part knew it was a bad idea, that he couldn't really trust her, not yet.

"We leave." He gave her a small smile and began rolling the Declaration up. "I am sorry, Doctor Chase, to have dragged you into all this. Please accept me and my associates dearest apologies. Rat us out if you must, but we'll be long gone by then anyway."

He didn't quite believe what he was saying, and by the time he had rolled the document up fully, he was feeling suitably awful.

Abigail's eyes narrowed. "If you attempt to leave I will . . . squeeze this lemon into your eye." She muttered. Well, that wasn't much of a threat. "You've dragged me into this now, and you're not leaving me behind now." She stated, reaching for the Declaration. "It would take less than ten minutes for the police to get here, and I'm sure they'd be able to find you." She folded her arms across her chest. "Besides, I know just as much about history as you do, especially about documents and texts. I'm a valuable source of information." She was almost begging to go along now - at least she wouldn't have to face the loss of her job just yet. And she was curious.

Riley guffawed loudly at her empty threat.

"Ohh, scary."

Ben watched her. She wanted to go that badly! And he did want her to come, even though she was rather infuriating. But her eyes were that startling blue Ben loved, and she was fiery and she was a match to him, so very like him and that was exhilarating.

Yet somehow, he ploughed on, telling her not to come, and he began to wonder why.

"You're not coming." He said firmly. "Like you said you'll lose your job. And I've escaped the police so far I can do so for a while longer. All I need is more time to clear my name."

He watched her face fall and the pang of guilt and sadness that shot through him suggested that he actually cared what happened to this woman. He didn't want her in harm's way, especially when it was his fault she was here at all.

Abigail threw the lemon at Riley's head, her attention still on Ben. "Look, if I let the document away from my sight, I will lose my job. But if I come with you, and keep it with me, I'll have a job to come back to if I keep it safe." She said quietly, tugging her hair back down and shaking it loose, running her fingertips through it. "And I don't rightly care if you've escaped the secret service,

I can still help you. I'm quiet, and I can sneak around as good as anyone."

"So can Riley." Ben pointed his thumb at his friend who shot a startled look in his direction.

"Wait, what?"

"And working with criminals will get you nowhere with your job." He pulled the Declaration towards him. "I'm sorry but you stay."

Abigail sighed, rubbing her temple as she stepped forward, inches from his face now. "I'm coming. You have no right to tell me to stay - and the longer you stay here arguing with me about it, the less time you have to get away in case the police decide to come calling early."

She was a bolschy one alright. Ben considered his options. Maybe it would be helpful to have someone like her with him. Of course she most likely wouldn't enjoy Ian on their tails, but she would get used to that, surely...

"Alright, alright, fine!" He span around, furious with himself for caving. Riley gave him a 'wtf' look and Ben just shrugged.

(I'm in the middle of making a Ben/Abby video to 'Everything' by Lifehouse)

Abigail smiled triumphantly. "Good. We can use my car then." She grabbed her keys off the table near the front door, dangling them in front of him. "You can drive, since you apparently know where we're going. Although, if I end up with bullets in the side of my SUV, I'll personally kill your trigger-happy buddy myself."

Ben grinned.

"Well good luck with that." He took her keys and hurried out of the door, clutching the list of ciphers and pulling out his cell phone as he moved.

"Who're you calling?" Riley asked, hovering behind him. Ben didn't answer, simply said one word as a voice spoke on the other end of the line.

"Dad." There was some shouting, quite loud and firm, and then- "Yeah I know it's late. I just wanted to know if you had the Silence Dogood letters..."

Abigail followed along behind Ben as fast as her tattered body would let her. She glanced at the clock on the wall as they left - it was pretty late. Near midnight now. No wonder his father was yelling at him. Her attention peaked at the Silence Dogood letters. "How on earth do you know those numbers refer to those letters? And did you steal those letters too?"

Ben put his hand on the receiver, glaring at the woman beside him.

"No I did NOT steal them. They belong to my father, and I know they refer to those because it said so on the pipe that bigfoot took!" He yelled the last few words before going back to his call.

"What do you mean you don't have them?"

The voice continued on the other end.

"Yes it's about the treasure, just tell me where the letters are."

More murmuring on the line and then Ben abruptly hung up.

"We're going to Philadelphia."

Abigail winced, and waited until he turned back around before making a face at his back, rolling her eyes. "No reason to yell - it was a simple question." She muttered, and when he mentioned going to Philadelphia, she laughed. "Let me guess - bigfoot decided to take a vacation there? Or are we going to the museum there to get the letters?"

"What do you think?" Ben said sarcastically, marching ahead and clicking the button on the car key, opening the doors. "We'll get the information we need once it's morning. Get in." And he hopped into the drivers seat without another word.

Abigail rolled her eyes at his back and climbed into the passenger's side. "I guess we're headed to Philadelphia then." She murmured, leaning back in her seat. It would be a long ride - it would be early morning by the time they got there. "Hope they have good coffee."

Her tone infuriated Ben and amazed him at the same time, he really had met his match. Riley kind of just did as he was told and went along for the ride, but Abigail was quite different, she challenged him where necessary, and sometimes gave him reason to rethink his plans. He liked that, but he simply didn't have time to dwell on it, did he?

He drove steadily throughout the night, eyes glued to the road, hardly noticing when Abigail and Riley's chattering ceased and they fell into deep slumber.

It was indeed morning when they arrived and Ben parked the car, stepping out and checking his watch. 9am. The institute wouldn't open until at least 10. He stole a glance at his sleeping friends and then spied an Urban Outfitters close by. He could get some new threads and be back before they awoke. He did look kind of conspicuous, after all.

Abigail fell asleep not long after they hit the road, her head resting against her shoulder. There was something about Benjamin Gates that she liked, even if he did manage to rub her the wrong way most of the time. Underneath his treasure hunting exterior, he seemed like he'd be like a nice guy. Maybe she'd find out sometime. She stirred slightly when they stopped, eyes flickering open. She blinked, trying to get the sleep out of them as she stretched, stifling a yawn. She was stiff all over, and her cuts had mostly healed, which was good. She glanced over at Ben, who seemed to be debating something as he stared at a store across the way. Abigail glanced around, spying a coffee shop. "Go change clothes. I'll go grab us some coffee. Your friend will be fine in the car." She nodded to where Riley was still sleeping in the back.

Ben started when he heard Abigail's voice, whirling to face her. He nodded at her suggestion, but shot a sideways glance at Riley. There was no way he was going to leave him in the car, not with Ian cavorting around, looking for them. He would definitely like to spend some time alone with Abigail though, get to know her.

"I think he'd like to be involved." He said abruptly, giving his friend a smile, even though he couldn't return it. "We'll give him the codes, he can come with me and get changed then head on out to the Institute."

Abigail leaned forward and opened the glove compartment, pulling out a book - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. She pulled several hundred dollars out of it, passing several to Ben. "I think you might need this." She said with the flash of a smile as she began to climb out of the car, tucking what was left of the bills into her pocket, crossing the street to the cafe.

Ben had totally forgotten about money. He blinked at Abigail as she sashayed away from him. He was certainly glad he had brought her along.

He cleared his throat.

"Come on, Riley."

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	5. You like her

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A short wait and three black coffees later, Abigail sat down at one of the tables near the window, watching the morning sun come up over the tops of the buildings and people head off to work. She sipped at her own coffee, the warmth flooding through her body, all the way to the tips of her toes inside the black converse she had grabbed.. She was watching, waiting for Ben or Riley to appear.

Ben changed into a fresh jacket and sweatshirt while Riley waited outside his changing room, fidgeting with the tassels on his new hoodie.

"Ben, I've figured something out."

"Oh yeah?" Ben said from inside his cubicle, folding his other clothes.

"Yeah." Riley grinned to himself. "You like her."

Ben pushed the door open, facing Riley, playing dumb.

"What?"

"Abigail. You like her."

"Oh yeah?" Ben laughed, marching past his friend. "And why's that?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

Ben simply chuckled and paid for his items, only, it was Riley who was having the last laugh, because he knew exactly what Ben was doing, and what was going on. How fun.

Okay, so maybe she liked him. But she'd never admit it aloud - she'd known him for less than a day. But he had pulled her into a treasure hunt, and the thought of it all was messing with her head. She couldn't like a man who had kidnapped her and tried to steal the Declaration. Ridiculous. Her hand held onto the document she had brought with her - like hell she was leaving it in the car.

Ben parted ways with Riley just by the coffee shop, instructing him and then disappearing inside, looking around rather enthusiastically for that pretty blonde head.

Once he had found it he hurried over, smiling brightly.

"Hello again." He said down, took a sip of his coffee and leant forward.

Abigail flashed a grin as Ben appeared - she saw Riley disappear around the corner. "Hey." She greeted. "Hope you like your coffee. Tastes better than the stuff in D.C, at least." She shuddered slightly. "I got Riley coffee too." She nudged the third cup of it.

"He'll love that." Ben smiled, pulling the coffee nearer. "He'll be here soon I imagine. He can claim it then."

There was a short silence between them, punctuated by the sounds of coffee machines gurgling and people chattering. The guilt from earlier suddenly stabbed at Ben and he locked eyes with Abigail.

"Look, Abigail, I really am sorry about all this."

Abigail gave a fleeting smile. "It's fine." She said, although, was it really fine? "I've never been in a car wreck before. Great experience. And now that you've brought me into all of this, I'm almost glad you did - if this treasure is real, I'd love to find it." She said, clutching her coffee between her hands. "Our founding fathers intended someone not greedy to find it, and I believe that's you. And Riley of course. I can tell you two don't want it just for money - I'm going to guess that's why your friend who was shooting at it wants it. That's what all men want."

Ben wanted to say that the car wreck was not his fault, but then again, if he hadn't dragged Abigail in the van in the first place...

He nodded quite firmly when she said what she thought on greediness, that he and Riley were not in it for the money.

"You're right, you really are, and people often don't get that right away." He leant back. "Ian only ever wanted the money. It was only recently I discovered his true colours. That's all he wanted from the start." He pressed his lips together, looked at Abigail once more. "You know, I only took you last night because I was scared of what Ian would do. There's no doubt in my mind that he would've done something, had he seen you with the Declaration, and, well, I wanted you safe. So I'm really sorry it didn't go to plan. But you're safe now, and that's what matters."

"People are consumed by their own greed - it's people like them I hate." She sighed, resting her chin in her hands, her finger absentmindedly trailing the rim of her coffee cup. "But I'm sorry this Ian of yours turned out to be like that. He seems like a real prick." Abigail muttered, but the next instant, she gave Ben a brief smile. "Well, I appreciate it. Something tells me he would have been less than friendly with me. I'd probably be dead right now, had you not taken me. So in a way, I guess I'm saying thanks for kidnapping me." She laughed at the thought of it, shaking her head, blonde curls falling into her face. "I just hope we continue to remain safe. We've known each other not even for 24 hours and I wouldn't be able to stand it if something happened to either of you."

Ben smiled to himself, allowing his gaze to fall onto his mug of coffee.

"Well," he said, "I believe the feeling is mutual."

He took another gulp of coffee and met her eyes again. "It's funny how quickly people get a taste for the hunt."

Abigail laughed. "The 'taste' has always been there. History has always been my obsession - it's just a shame a lot of people don't really care for it anymore." She sighed, raking hair from her eyes as she glanced out the window. "All anyone ever thinks of it is how boring and pointless it is."

"Yes exactly!" Ben's voice raised higher than he had expected it to, showing off his enthusiasm all too quickly. "And don't you just hate it when they criticise you for going on holidays to historical landmarks no-one has heard of?" He smiled to himself and leant back, liking her too much already. "And I wouldn't say you had the taste that early, you seemed rather annoyed when you figured out what Riley and I were up to..."

Abigail smiled at Ben's passion for history. "Yes! I do hate that, actually, very much so!" She took another drink of her coffee. "And the only reason I was annoyed was because you stole the most important document in history. I do think I have a right to be a little bit upset over that, since I'm in charge of it." She held it up in her hand before laying it back across her lap.

Ben snapped his fingers, "no! Back when we first met, before I had even stolen it...Or thought of stealing it for that matter, you looked at me with that glint in your eye and said 'you're treasure hunters, aren't you...?"

He figured he'd made his point so downed the rest of his coffee, almost proudly.

"You have to understand that its not everyday someone comes into my office telling me the Declaration of Independence is going to be stolen." She stated, rolling her eyes at him. Honestly. "But now I understand that you're more treasure protectors - your friend, Ian is it? - he's the treasure hunter."

"Yeah." Ben darkened. "Yeah he is."

There was a short silence, in which wasn't necessarily awkward, but tense, and then Riley burst in, clutching newspapers to his chest.

"Hey!"

"Riley! Did you get it?" Ben leapt up, ecstatic.

"Oh I got it."

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	6. Done playing games

**Sory about the wait, busy again, both of us, and we haven't had much time to write more. Enjoy this anyway! :D  
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Abigail noticed the darkness in Ben's tone, but said nothing as Riley came bursting in. She finished what was left of her coffee and looked at him expectantly. "Well, share with the class, Riley." She prompted, scooting over so he could sit down and passing him the cup of coffee she had gotten him.

"Oh hey! Coffee! Thanks!" He gulped it down, let out a slight yelp at the heat, and then cleared his throat. "The vision to see the treasured past, comes as the timely shadow passes in front of the house of pass and stow."

Ben appeared deep in thought.

"Pass and Stow, of course, is referring to-"

"The liberty bell, yeah." Ben said abruptly, cutting his friend off rather harshly.

Abigail smiled. "But the Liberty Bell is no longer in its place in the steeple, so it has to be referring to the steeple where it used to be - so we have to be there at a certain time." She said, resting her chin in her hand, frowning slightly. "Question is, what time?"

"What time..." Ben repeated. He looked around the coffee shop, as if for inspiration, and then it struck him. "Oh...You guys are gonna love this." He pulled out his wallet, producing one of the leftover hundred dollar bills, and looked over at Riley. "Can you go get me one of those water bottles from the refrigerator? Thanks."

Riley rolled his eyes.

"Yes Master."

Abigail giggled at Riley, glancing at the bill in Ben's hand, then she remembered there was a clock tower on the back. With a time on it. Knowing what Ben was up to, she could only smile, watching Riley return with the water bottle and hand it to Ben.

Ben couldn't help it as his motor pouth began to run again. He just loved telling people what they didn't know.

"On the back of a hundred dollar bill is an etching of independence hall based on a painting done in the 1780's." His eyes flickered between Riley and Abigail as he spoke. "-And the artist was actually a friend of Benjamin Franklins. Now I think that if we look at this clock tower, we may find the specific time..."

Riley seemed to be reeling from all the information as Ben held the bill up and peered through the water bottle.

"I know." Abigail said with a half grin, but apparently Riley didn't. "You should pay more attention in history classes, Riley. See how much they pay off?" She leaned forward across the table, peering through the water bottle with Ben. "What time does it say?"

"2.22..." He paused, looking across at his accomplices. "Anybody got the time?"

Abigail glanced at her watch. "About noon." She replied. "We still have time to make it there today if we hurry. We don't want your friend coming back."

Like Ben was going to wait around any longer.

"Let's go."

They all bustled out of the coffee shop and out into the afternoon sunshine. It was delightfully warm, and Ben turned his face up to the sun with the hint of a smile on his face as he went. There really was nothing better than this? Was there? Treasure hunting with his best friend and a beautiful girl...

They walked down the street, chattering amongst themselves, failing to noticed the black SUV parked just near them...

"Pass and stow. Type it in." Ian ordered the man sitting in the back seat with the laptop opened on his lap. There was the clicking of keys, before the laptop was passed over to him. "The liberty bell. Looks like we're heading to Liberty Hall, gentlemen." He said, and glanced up - he caught sight of the pretty blonde first, walking on one side of the man, the familiar form of the geek on his other side. He chuckled. "Well, how about we greet our old friends?" He questioned, then noticed the document clutched in the blonde woman's hand. "Whatever you do, don't damage that document. I don't care if you have to drag her in this car, but make sure nothing happens to the document."

On his orders, the man driving circled the block and up the street Ben and the others were walking toward, cutting them off before they could cross it. He slammed on the breaks at the curb, and Ian stepped out, chuckling. "Save yourself the time and don't run - because I will shoot you."

It was Riley who noticed the erratic driving of the car just near them.

"Uh, Ben..." He nudged his friend and pointed. "Does that look slightly Ian-ish to you?"

Ben looked over, brow furrowed, and his question was answered when the car screeched to a halt before them, and Ian stepped out...

Ben stopped in his tracks and so did his friends and his arms instinctively went out, as if to protect them.

"Ian, what're you doing here?"

"I'm here for what's mine." He nodded to the document in Abigail's hand. "Hand it over before someone gets hurt."

Abigail clutched the document tighter to her chest.

"Never."

Ian narrowed his eyes and lifted his jacket, flashing the sleek silver gun tucked away into his belt. "I shoot to kill, Dr. Chase. Hand it over. Or you have the second option of coming with me, we find that treasure of yours - I leave with the money, and you leave with your lives."

Ben almost laughed.

"You're ridiculous Ian,"

Riley cut in.

"And you're barking up the wrong tree. She won't even give Ben that thing."

Ben shot Riley a look and continued, almost spitting his words.

"We could've worked together on this Ian, and you know we could. But you had to go and mess it all up, you had to go and make this into something it was never meant to be."

Ian sighed. "That treasure was always mine, Ben. I'd planned to take it from you the minute we found it." He shrugged, and pulled the gun out, aiming it at Ben's head. "Get in the car. All three of you. Now. I'm done playing games."

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